4 days ago
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The BYD Shark 6, Australia's first plug-in hybrid electric ute, has been handed a full five-star safety rating after local testing by ANCAP – but there is an asterisk.
The 2025 BYD Shark 6 has been awarded a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating and is one of only four utes to achieve top marks on the current, and strictest, standards.
The Shark 6 ute follows the GWM Cannon Alpha, JAC T9, and Mitsubishi Triton in doing so, the BYD ute's adult occupant protection test and safety assist assessment yielding 85 and 86 per cent scores respectively.
In what is understood to be a first for the safety tester, a score for the child occupant protection category is yet to be confirmed despite the publication of the overall rating.
A result was in place until minutes prior to the publication of the five-star score, when BYD confirmed to ANCAP at the 11th hour that Australian Shark 6 utes are not fitted with Child Presence Detection (CPD) technology capable of activating the air-conditioning system to cool the cabin if it detects someone sitting in the rear after the vehicle has been turned off.
ANCAP has called out the plug-in hybrid ute’s large mass – tipping the scales at 2710kg (kerb weight) – and blocky front fascia as detrimental factors in the event of a vehicle-to-vehicle collision.
“Due its size, weight and front-end design, the BYD Shark 6 poses a higher risk to occupants of oncoming vehicles, resulting in the full 8.00-point penalty being applied in the MPDB (Mobile Protection Deformable Barriet) test (which assesses vehicle-to-vehicle compatibility),” it said in the release.
As for the vulnerable road user protection test, the BYD Shark 6 notched a 74 per cent score, matching the Mitsubishi, but behind the GWM (82 per cent) and JAC (87 per cent).
ANCAP also called out ‘marginal’ performance in the Shark 6 for rear autonomous emergency braking (AEB), while the BYD’s pedestrian, cyclist and motorcylcist detection showed ‘good’ performance.
The Shark 6 was tested locally by ANCAP, and is the fifth model from BYD to achieve a five-star safety rating following the Atto 3, Seal, Dolphin, and Sealion 6.
Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.
